


Phantasmagoria

by Browa123



Series: Halfa Havoc [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Danny and his ghost instincts, Gen, Not Phantom Planet Compliant, ghost speak headcanon, halfa are fun to talk about, making a story for my favorite au, so have another halfa, we need more halfas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-10 20:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17433113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browa123/pseuds/Browa123
Summary: Danny's honorary Deathday Party is interrupted by a powerful new ghost out for his blood personally. Can Danny defeat this new opponent, or is he doomed to finally and truly lose for the first time?





	1. Party Crasher

Danny kept his body invisible as the crowd in the park gathered before the stage. Slowly peeking out, he took in just how many had shown up to his party, causing a nervous feeling to sit in his stomach. Since when did he get stage fright? Thank goodness Tuck is going to have a projector for his speech, because he wasn't expecting the gathering to be this big when he started anonymously sending invites.

It was a week ago when he did. He stuffed the note intangibly into Dash's locker first, knowing the jock would spread the word to the a-listers. And as soon as the popular kids caught whiff, the rest of the school soon followed, along with parents. Danny knew word would spread and the warning to keep ghost hunters out of it should keep him safe, but he didn't think the park would be full! The fact someone made him a small stage for today was still baffling.

He's grateful he said the party would be a potluck, there's no way he'd feed everyone here with his minimal allowance. It had been cut since mom is still sick in bed at home, needing money for medical supplies was more important and Danny could relate.

The chatter of many voices is heard from behind the curtain as Sam, Tucker and Jazz approach, wearing cloaks and masks to hide their identities for the opening speech. Last thing he needed was his friends and sister swarmed with supporters and oppressors all hours of the day if they're recognised. Sure, they looked a little creepy, but it was for the best. 

To think, it's been five years today the accident happened. Jazz even flew in from Harvard to celebrate today with him. Five years of ghost powers, five years of Danny Phantom, five years since his life changed forever. And he wants to share it with everyone in Amity Park, hence the party. The really, really big party he's in no way truly prepared for. Danny is certainly just now realizing it's easier to have a crowd watching you when you're a hundred feet in the air.

Tucker jabs Danny in the arm lightly. "No turning back now, man. Look at them all up there, glad I'm wearing a mask for this!" His best friend snickers, to which Danny joins in nervously. He can't thank his friends enough for going through this with him, every step of the way. Even when the going got tough, Sam and Tucker were there until the bitter end.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet, little brother!" Jazz teases, indicating the ring of ice at the feet of the Halfa. Her witty banter really had improved over the last five years. Danny was feeling oddly reminiscent now, on top of his stage fright. Jazz can probably see him shaking in his boots, as always she's so perceptive. In turn Danny just shakes his head, trying to summon the old Phantom bravado as his friends stepped onstage to greet the guests. So many guests...

What Danny can overhear of the three of them talking is about them being Phantom's team of secret ghost hunters, and how the image of strong silent type people have made of his alter ego is going to be completely shattered in a few moments. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys...." Danny mutters under his breath as they speak. 

The Halfa waits in the wings as the rest of Team Phantom thanks the crowd for coming to a very special day. Danny was certainly glad ghosts could respect his deathday and leave the town alone for his party. All the people here could be hurt if one were to attack. Then again, maybe a Ghost attack could get rid of this crippling stage fright, so he can focus on more than talking to a crowd of strangers here for his party.

"And now, without further adeu!" Sam's voice cuts through his jumbled thoughts. It's go time. 

He can do this. 

"The ghost you've been waiting for!" Tucker cheers

Danny steels himself and takes a deep breath.

"Danny Phantom!" All his friends announce at the same time.

He can do this.

Cheers erupt through the entire stage and the tension in his limbs returns immediately. He can't do this. His body feels like jello as he shakily walks up to Sam and takes the microphone from her. Tucker gives him a high five and Jazz pats him on the back as he's now alone on stage, the crowd watching him eagerly.

"Uuuuhh.... hi, uh, everyone! W-welcome to my Deathday Party.....uh..." the crowd lets out more cheers. Oh great. Just stick to the script, Fenton. Chill out. "There's certainly a lot of you here today, a-and I'm glad you all are! I'm just... surprised and honored so many of ypu here in Amity care to come to my Deathday Party...." he trails off as there's more cheers in the packed park. 

He thinks he hears Paulina shout something about him being cute before his cheeks flare with a red and green blush. Even during the rest of the year, freakin' Christmas haunts him. And everyone pulling the "aww" on him when he flushes only burns his cheeks brighter. How embarrassing...

"A-anyway, uh..." He swallows, pushing down his blush. "Its been five years since I was formed, and I'm certainly grateful to all of you for supporting me. I know the first few months of my appearance was very, very rough...." He chuckles as the audience laughs with him, "but I'm glad you gave me a second chance. Defending Amity Park is my duty, wether you want me to or not, but I'm glad you're ok with me hanging around where I was when I lived here," he finished sincerely.

There's claps and cheers as he ends his speech with letting everyone know the potluck is across from the stage, and to try and leave some for everyone. More cheering, his ears are going to be ringing with positivity for a week. Watching the crowd desperse a bit as his friends join him onstage, Danny begins to slink back into the background to calm his nerves.

Then his ghost sense goes off.

But something is wrong. It isn't just a shiver, or a small cloud of blue mist. The ghost sense flares deep in his core, and he feels like he's spitting up ice when a stream of frosted breath leaves his lips and nostrils. A violent shiver wrecks his body as the unnatural variant of the ghost sense spirals into the air, and his sudden movement pulls his cloaked friends to his side.

"Danny, are you ok?" Sam is the first to speak, looking him in the eye with concern as Team Phantom surrounds him. The cold feeling of this unnatural ghost sense hadn't left his core, and Danny grips his chest with cold pain. His ghost sense isn't supposed to hurt, it's the most harmless power in his arsenal. But the cold sting continued to burn until the sky darkened.

"A ghost attack? On your Deathday? I thought the ghosts would leave you alone today!" Tucker exclaimed. Looks like someone didn't get the memo. Finally the burning cold let's his core go, and Danny steps back out on stage to see what the issue is.

The park had been vacated when the ghost arrived. It's standing on the opposite end of the stage, goggles tinted with green lenses over its eyes. It's hooded, but also wearing a lab coat, dark black in color, as red is present in the suit beneath the coat. It also looked furious, staring down Danny with a most extreme malice.

"Phantom."

It spoke, the hatred in its, her, voice sending another chill down the spine of the Halfa. Danny is quick to recover though, standing his ground across from the other ghost. This new ghost was dangerously powerful. Nothing like the monstrosities of late like Undergrowth or Vortex, but the power radiating off this other ghost was immense.

"That's me," Danny quips, keeping his voice from shaking. "And you do know it's rude to attack a Ghost on their Deathday, right? You new to being dead or something?" He finds the will to take a step forward, flaring his core at an attempt of intimidation. This ghost was intruding on his turf, after all.

"Like I care what you think, ghost." She spits the word venomously, her own core flaring with energy that caused Danny to take his step back. Okay yeah, crazy powerful other ghost. Looks like it's a day for a battle of wits rather then pure strength.

"Look who's talking. You're a Ghost too, aren't you? And you scaring away all the party guests is definitely encroaching on my turf, lady," Danny bites back at her. Entirely true after all. Amity Park is his territory, solidified after he told the ghost king it was his town, no one else's.

Most ghosts knew the deal around Amity. Phantom only allowed you around Amity Park if you leave the humans alone and don't plot world takeover. Anyone who violates his rules on his his turf regrets it, even if they win the first time around. Phantom hits a lot harder in the second.

And this new ghost clearly didn't get the memo. Crashing his party, staring his guests, attacking his territory, insulting him? Danny feels his ghostly instincts screaming, but his humanity gives him enough self control to make his turnout mood annoyed. Maybe this ghost can be negotiated with before it devolves into a fight.

The other ghost is still glaring at him with pure resentment and rage. It's going to be tough, but it is worth a shot. Danny decides he's going to be the adult here and talk it through. One of the honesty lessons he learned in time, as is always after the witty banter and kicking ghost butt.

"Look, lady. Can we talk about This? You're obviously a new ghost around here and you probably don't know the rules yet. But hey, I can introduce you, lead you back to the ghost zone without anything drastic and we can laugh about it tomorrow when we reschedule, Okay?" He's still not the best with words, but it's a good attempt at least.

The new ghost answers back with an ectoblast from a concealed blaster. The beam clips Danny's shoulder and stings like hell. He brings his free arm up to make sure he isn't bleeding.

"Who do you think you are?!" Danny finds himself spitting, ghostly aura flaring again. Tone it down, Fenton. You need to keep level headed against a Ghost this tough. Good aim too, she just barely missed his core when he had the sense to dodge.

"The name is Tasma, Phantom. Remember it well, for it's the last name you'll ever hear," the angry ghost snarls back before charging another blast to her pistol. Danny in turn throws up a shield, but it barely takes the blast and shatters after a moment.

"Something tells me you aren't the kind to be a good sport," Danny hurts, still gripping his injured shoulder. Well, so much for talking it out like rational adults. Taking a battle stance, Danny starts to charge up his own energy to fire back. The blast strikes true against Tasma's shooting arm, causing her to drop her pistol.

She hisses with rage before she lunges to get close to Danny, the Halfa moving to block her next attack. But Danny is quickly outmatched in hand to hand combat. Tasma is fast, and precise, swift in moving around him and making his close combat look and feel inept.

Tasma takes quick advantage of his weaker arm and is throwing him around like a rag doll. Danny in turn can't land a proper hit on the ghost, a tangle of limbs that can barely fight right. He's never seen a Ghost this good at martial arts, most prefer to stay back and shoot, or use battering weapons or blades.

It's not long before the merciless battering sweeps him down to his knees, Tasma soon looking over his fallen form as he faintly hears Team Phantom calling his name. His head is blurred from too many blows, and everything aches like it's all bruised. His horrible display of close combat let Tasma easily defeat him, leaving him open on the ground.

That's when Sam, Tucker and Jazz leap in, armed with ghost hunting weaponry and firing at the new ghost to get Tasma off him. Danny smiles in relief as he sinks into the ground to escape. He needs to return to physical form and recharge before going back out there to help his team.

There we go, Amity Park sewers. The smell may not be the best, but it's a good place to change back into a human unnoticed. And so he does, easily turning Phantom into Fenton. His physical form is sore from bruises, but it's better to rest. Danny makes a mental note to make Halfa smoothies for himself later. (Jazz's idea, one part ectoplasm to two parts fruit smoothie, and really delicious on a day after a bad fight.)

At least he's able to heal up down here. Danny can only hope his team will be okay, after all Tasma is quick and powerful for a newly formed ghost. Another note to treat them to Nasty Burger after a long and hot shower later today is made.

Suddenly his awful, off kilter and painful ghost sense goes off again. What is up with that? Did Someone put dry ice in the frost half of his core? Why is it so wrong today?

His answer comes in the form of Tasma floating down along the sewer. She followed him?! Is she the cause of his terribly off ghost sense? This can't be good, she's going to find him! Danny does his best to hide, but the green goggles of Tasma still appear in his vision. He's in Physical Form this time, he's so screwed!

But then Tasma gives his human form a once over, before a white glove lifts up the goggles, leaving eerie yellow eyes meeting his sky blue ones. Danny swallows hard as the ghost looks at him. Does she not recognise him as Phantom.

"Excuse me, what are you doing down here?" She says, loosing the tone laced with hatred. She doesn't recognise him! Thankful for the small miracle, Danny adopts a practised timid pose in order to fool the other ghost further. Looks like she also missed the memo on Halfas.

"Oh, uh, me? I was uh... pushed down here by a bully. Really nasty fall, heh... I'll be okay though, just a few bruises and scrapes, miss, uh, ghost... lady..." His nervous tone isn't faked this time, but it certainly does the trick as a soft smile takes Tasma. Hook, line and sinker, scary ghost lady!

"Well there's a ladder not to far from here. I'm sure your family misses you, young man," Tasma chides before patting Danny on the head. "By the way, have you seen Phantom? I'm chasing that awful excuse for post human consciousness out but he escaped," she hisses the name of his alter ego. Wow, she's just as clueless as his parents! This is way too easy.

"Phantom? Oh yeah him. I think I saw him running for his sorry afterlife in that direction. Really, really far away. He's fast you know so I think he's like at Wisconsin by now," he lies. When Tasma nods and vanishes in the direction he mentioned a grin creeps up on his face.

"Sucker."

He takes the ladder out of the sewers and walks home, not wanting to alert Tasma while she's still in town. At least he didn't surrender his territory to her. Seeing the way she acts, he doesn't know what would happen if he handed Amity over to such an angry ghost.

Fentonworks appears the next block over, and Danny quickly returns home to see his parents on the couch, his mom holding a cup of tea in her hands.

"Mom! You're out of bed!" Danny finds himself exclaiming, glad to see his mother feeling better. She'd been sick over a week now after something happened in the lab while he was away. But his parents were experts on anything ghost related so he wasn't overly worried.

"Yes, I'm feeling better now honey. But you look like a mess! Why not wash up before dinner and then you can tell us what happened," Maddie gives Danny a soft smile, that Danny gladly returns to her. It's good she's better, one less thing in his mind for the day.

He heads upstairs to shower, but feels unease as he reflects on the day. Tasma... what an odd ghost. Everything is off about her from her fighting style to how she screws up his ghost sense in such a weird way. Danny is going to have to be careful from now on. Tasma is a tough and mysterious new opponent and it'll take a lot to overcome her.

Danny is still curious though. How did Tasma not recognise him? He clearly has an ecto signature in Physical Form too, even if more faint. Tasma should have sensed it that close. The only thing that causes Danny's own ghost sense to malfunction is other Halfa. He can't sense Vlad or Dani like he can other ghosts. But that's not important right now.

There's a new ghost in town after his blood, and he needs to be ready next time. He might not be able to escape when they next meet, so he has to prepare for anything. Danny knows he's been knocked hard out of the first round, but he's going to be ready for the second.

"Look out Tasma, because next time you're gonna go down!" He thinks to himself proudly.


	2. The New Ghost in Town

"10...11...12"

Jazz watches her brother with a curious eye as he practices push-ups. She's never seen him so intent on training physically, but after what happened at his Deathday party, she isn't too surprised. A ghost had broken the unspoken truce and attacked him at his party.

"Someone's getting a bit intense with the physical training," she comments. Her brother lets out a strangled sigh as he flops on the ground, sweating. He's not to amused with having to willingly commit to physical activity outside school.

"I... I know! But you saw what happened! I haven't lost in a fight that badly in years!" Danny protests, getting up for a drink of water. "And I know why! I wasn't prepared for that fight in the slightest, and when she got close range on me I looked ridiculous in comparison to her skill!"

"Yeah, it's been a while since you looked that inept," Jazz adds dryly, eliciting a glare from Danny, who shakes some of the sweat out of his hair. The elder sibling can only chuckle. Ghost or no, Danny's never been all that scary. 

_"Thanks for the constructive criticism,"_ Danny mutters in halfa-speak. It's a language he's been teaching himself a while, and according to Jazz it's some mix between Latin, Old English and classic howling ghost speak. Hybrid language for a hybrid ghost, the halfa guesses.

"English please, Danny. If you have something to say you can tell me it in a way I can understand," his sister scolds. Danny only raises a brow at her and smirks.

"Nah," is all he replies, before stretching his arms and legs. "Alright, you ready to do this?"

"Ok, but I'm only teaching you the basics today. With how little you've exercised before now, it's best we hold off on the intense stuff," Jazz stretches too, getting ready. She had agreed to teach her brother a few martial arts before she goes back to college next week, and is glad to help him with whatever is going on with the new ghost.

"Now, come at me with everything you've got!" she cheers, taking a defensive stance as Danny moves in. He starts with a flurry of attacks, but Jazz can easily read his clumsy movements and blocks every blow before moving in to hit him in the gut. It connects and Danny stumbles backward a bit disoriented.

"You're being way too obvious," Jazz points out while Danny coughs. "You're slow and your moves are predictable for the most part. Up close your weaknesses in your close combat defense are obvious and easily exploitable. When you encounter Tasma again, she's not just going to stop when you get punched in the gut. She'll keep going while you're vulnerable."

"Want to tutor me in math while you're at this?" Danny spits as he regains his composure, wobbling a bit. In all his years of ghost fighting, he's never had to deal with a close combat opponent like this. Most ghosts are too big, or prefer to fight at a distance or use weapons. All of these things, Danny is prepared for. A martial arts ghost? Somehow having a laser gun? That, he isn't.

"Alright, from the top. And try to be less obvious this time," Jazz instructs, taking the defensive position again. Danny follows her lead, and moves in for the first attack again. Though Jazz again blocks and sweeps a kick under him, knocking the halfa on the ground.

Danny groans as he sits up, taking his sister's offered hand. He'd hit his head on the way down and finds himself rubbing at the sore spot while Jazz talks to him about proper form and technique. As she rambles, Danny is reminded of his encounter with Tasma.

The ghost had come out of nowhere, to him specifically. His ghost sense was weird around her, painful, like her very aura was a danger to him. There was something wrong with this new ghost, something weird. He'd have to consult his allies about Tasma next time he was in the ghost zone.

Tasma in itself is a weird name for a ghost. Clearly shortened of Phantasma, or Phantasmagoria if he was being specific. Heck, his alter-ego name was Phantom, yes, but to just take that word specifically from any name a ghost could choose. Considering it's connection to the halfa language.

Sure, halfa-speak is a mix of dead languages and ghost speak, but there are some words and meaning that do not fit in with the typical use of the language. "Tasma" is one of those words. It means Phantom in halfa-speak, but with the female pronoun usually attached. He knows this because he and Dani were practicing the same language, and he'd called her what sounded like "Tasma" by accident when forgetting to use her name.

But no normal ghost knows halfa-speak. So, is it really just coincidence that this new ghost is named Tasma? Or is there some merit to the theory beginning to form in Danny's mind? He brushes it off again, it's too soon to know.

"...keeping you're posture strong and, are you even listening to me?" Jazz asks, raising an eyebrow at her brother. Her mouth falls to a comedic pout as she shoots Danny a glare of her own.

"I'm listening, I'm listening," Danny replies, holding his hands up in defense. Jazz, on the other hand, looks unconvinced of his answer and folds her arms, shaking her head.

"Danny, if you want to get any better at hand-to-hand combat, you have to listen to me! Tasma is goimg to come after you again, and we might not be there to save you! You're lucky, Danny. She doesn't recognise your human form, and right now it's you're only advantage," lectures the elder Fenton, her look stern.

She's right, Danny realises with a bitter thought. If Tasma had recognised his physical form, he wouldn't have stood a chance against her bright red wrath. At least Valerie was human enough to negotiate with. Tasma is a ghost, and if her obsession is chasing down his ghost half, the capacity for mercy must be limited.

Speaking of Valerie, Phantom and the Red Huntress have been on a tight truce as of late. She doesn't know the secret, but they're rivals now more than mortal enemies. Ghost fights are more competitions to see who catches the ghost first, and aside from friendly fire there's no real fighting.

Danny is certainly glad for that. As long as things stay in the clear between them, he might consider telling Valerie the secret. Now that he's just barely graduated, he helps his parents in the lab with inventions, seeing as he's good with his hands. His allowance is a paycheck now, and he's content and happy living with his parents, aside from the half ghost thing and being closer to more talks about ripping Phantom apart.

Thinking of his time working in the lab brings his thoughts to his mother. He'd heard from his Dad that there was something finicky with the Fenton Bazooka before it had fired and hit his mother. She was sick with ectoplasm poisoning all week, and his Dad had insisted he'd take care of of his mom without his help.

The two of them have been acting weird ever since the accident, but Danny was assured he shouldn't be alarmed. Besides, the Fenton Bazooka only made small portals that barely made a dent in reality for too long. His mom wasn't showing any ghostly symptoms like his own accident so everything should be fine.

She's on her feet now, and they've all gone back to working full time in the lab again. Things are as normal as they can get in Fentonworks, and Danny couldn't be happier. He's glad his Mom is okay now, and that's what matters.

"What's on your mind, little brother?" Jazz inquires, taking in the fact that Danny was reminiscing. The Halfa in question sighs, rubbing his neck.

"Just thinking about mom. I'm glad she's okay now. She stumbles a bit in the lab, but I'm sure it's because she's still recovering from what happened," Danny tells her. Jazz smiles and pats him on the back.

"I know. I'm glad I was planning to fly in for your Deathday. It means I can be there for mom too until I go back to classes next week," his sister chuckles, handing her brother his water, which he graciously takes and chugs downs.

"Same here. Though we know from experience to watch out for..." he pauses, letting the ectoplasm in his core flow behind his eyes, causing them to glow a vivid green, "...side effects, you know?"

"I know. The last thing we need is our ghost hunting mother to get ghost powers. That would just be asking for trouble the moment she gets the hang of them," it's Jazz's turn to hold her hands up, waving them back and forth as Danny's eyes return to their normal, ice blue.

"Yeah, we'd loose the advantage we have over our parents pretty quickly. Mom being a Halfa would level the playing field. And we know how that ends," Danny winces, thinking of what would happen if his mother became like him.

Their conversation is cut short when a mist of blue leaks from Danny's lips. The Halfa whips his head in the direction he sensed the ghost, and quickly shakes his thoughts to the present. After all, he has a job to do, and he's sure Valerie is just itching to get there first.

Danny chuckles at the thought. She wishes.

"Go get 'em, Danny! We'll continue this lesson later," Jazz encourages, giving her brother a solid pat on the back. He grins in turn and feels the cool energy of shifting forms. He takes to the air instantly, flying off after the source of the panic the ghosts are causing.

As he'd hoped, Danny is there before Valerie and easily begins engaging Skulker, the ghost of the day today. He smirks and blasts a metal wing with a hot ecto-ray. The cyborg ghost howls in anger As his flight is interrupted.

"Wow, couldn't even wait a full twenty four hours after my Deathday, could ya? At least I was figuring you'd be the first attacker after the fact," Danny quips, building the energy in his hands again.

"Happy belated celebration of you're existence, whelp. Since I wasn't around to wish you one yesterday, I brought my present today!" Skulker exclaims in reply, before firing a round of missiles at the Halfa before him. Danny in turn swerves around them, only for the missiles to track his every move.

They almost make contact, before hot pink blasts intercept the oncoming fire. There's the familiar whirr of a black and red hoverboard as Valerie appears above the fighting specters, grinning under her helmet as smoke leaks from her blaster.

"Happy belated Deathday," she sneers in a teasing tone at Danny, who gives her a smirk back. "But that's the only present I'm giving you Phantom. I'm catching the ghost this time!" Declares the Huntress as she forces Danny to eat her midair dust.

"I figured as much, but just because you gave me a present doesn't mean I'm going easy!" He shouts back, moving to tag team the unfortunate hunter ghost. The two circle Skulker in a flurry of green and red blasts, as the full ghost attempts to futilly fight back both of them.

"Both of you are worthy prizes, but not both at once!" He fumed, attempting to fight off his assailants with a barrage of blasts form multiple different weapons. All are easily dodged by the experienced combatants, as Danny feels the cool in the ice half of his core.

"Hey! Roboface! Didn't you know you shouldn't use your phone in sub-zero tempratures?" With a swift blast of frost, Danny freezes Skulker's suit, circuitry and all, leaving the ghost powerless. Skulker screams with fury as he falls, leaving Danny ample time to whip out his thermos.

Then time stops. A horrid shiver wracks his frame in midair, causing him to loose focus on the fight. The Halfa coughs and spits as streams of blue mist escape his tense body through his increasingly dry mouth. He knows this feeling...

"Phantom?" He can hear Valerie's voice just above his own wheezing breaths. "Phantom, what's wrong? Is something up?" The tense suspicion is there, but he's never heard Valerie so concerned for him before. He can't focus on that though, as he chokes on his own icy breath.

"Val... get Skulker and get out of here... She's coming back..." Danny hisses through misty breaths. This isn't his ghost sense, it's not natural at all. It's not a power of his. He can feel it in his bones, his core and his very center. It's not a signal.

It's a warning.

It means that Tasma has sensed him.

Valerie swoops to the frozen Skulker and catches him in her own thermos, that Danny had given to her as a gift in human form a while back. She then flies back up and smacks his back a few times to get the mist out of his lungs.

"No way I'm leaving my best adversary up here alone to get cooked by someone else! You're my prey, Phantom. And, I'll admit, your smarmy rear end has grown on me. Anyone who wants to hunt you has to go through me first," Valerie huffs, warming her weapons.

"Thanks Val. It means a lot that you have my back this time. Now get ready, she's coming, and she's tough," Danny warns, ready to protect Valerie before she gets herself hurt protecting him. They share a moment of understanding.

"Who's the almighty Danny Phantom afraid of anyway?" Valerie asks, raising a brow. She can practically see the ghost boy shivering, and it's not just his ice core going nuts.

"It's the ghost that crashed my Deathday Party. Tasma. And she's strong, I didn't stand a chance against her during our first encounter," Danny explains, trying to suppress the cold shivers in his spine. Why is he so afraid? Why does this ghost's presence alone terrify him?

"Always a bigger fish, huh?" Valerie mutters. If this ghost can scare Phantom, she needs to be ready for anything. Hopefully she and Phantom can take this ghost down...

"So, I've managed to strike a false fear into the core of the infamous Phantom, have I?"

A spectral figure appears in front of them. Red hazmat, black lab coat and condescending green lenses hiding their eyes, giving off the feel of a mad scientist. She draws her gun and cocks the weapon, the sound of its charging whine filling the air as she aims it at Danny.

"Good."


	3. A Proper Confrontation With Tasma

Despite his shaking, Danny takes a battle stance, preparing to dodge any shots Tasma fires at him.

Beside him, Valerie's weapons warm and take aim at the unfamiliar ghost. "Back off, spook! Phantom's mine to hunt," Valerie shouts at the other ghost, who gives a grin in turn, looking quite sarcastic.

"You, hunting Phantom? I haven't seen you take that spectral scum seriously in over a year! In fact, I do believe you're helping it right now!" Tasma counters, readying a shot at the jumpsuited ghost. Phantom in turn allows ecto energy to build in his fists, accessing the plasma half of his core for electric energy.

"What can I say? The smarmy bastard grows on you after a bit," Valerie replies, training her aim on the red and black ghost. "At least I'm not the one ripping off someone who totally had that color pallet first!"

Tasma fires, and Danny meets the blast with hot plasma of his own, overpowering the weapon. A fanged smirk meets the young Halfa's lips. "Come on! You're a ghost! Why should you have to rely on weapons to do the shooting for you?" he taunts.

"Shut up, ghost! No one wants to hear your annoying banter," Tasma hisses in turn, charging for another shot with the weapon. Danny dodges with practiced experience, firing back more energy at the opposing specter. She dodges as well, but takes a moment to adjust herself in the air.

"Someone's a hypocrite," Danny remarks dryly, moving out of the way of another blast. The aim the ghost had was good, despite the trouble they were holding in midair combat. The realization as to what to do hits, and Danny smiles wider through his instinctual fear.

"Valerie, keep her airborne! She's got to be new, because she's struggling to hold herself in place!" the halfa calls to his unexpected partner. Valerie nods, moving her hoverboard to a position under Tasma. The Red Huntress begins making pot shots at the back of the black lab coat Tasma appeared to be sporting.

The confused ghost whips around as she's hit, Valerie smirking in her direction under the ghost hunting helmet. Tasma in turn growls, but doesn't turn her gun on the human. She moves back after Danny, who soared higher and higher into the air to gain an advantage.

"Don't attack humans, huh? Must be why you left the rest of Team Phantom alone at my party," Danny calls to the other ghost as he takes himself above the clouds. With his thoughts on this, he finds it unfortunate Tasma has to be his enemy and not his ally.

Then again, Tasma is violent. His impressions of her are destructive and impulsive ghost, hell bent on destroying other ghosts. She insults and badmouths others of her kind and has it out for him personally, so maybe it's better they aren't on the same side.

Maybe after some time to adjust to being a ghost, Tasma might calm down. It's obvious that she's new, not using core energy but ghost weapons, relying on hand-to-hand, the awkwardness of her flight patterns at the moment...

The fact that she's new to being a ghost might be Danny's only advantage at the moment. In every other scenario, she's more proficient in combat. His five years of experience fighting other ghost pales in comparison to her practice, and he's going to loose ground as she adapts, fast.

Now above most of the clouds and away from where property damage could be a problem, Danny continues his engagement of the opponent before him. Hand-to-hand might not be his forte, but when it comes to the air, he rules the skies of Amity Park.

As Tasma fires her weapon again, Danny dodges in a showy manner. He does so to taunt the opposing ghost, and quickly fires back with a plasma blast of his own. Tasma dodges, sloppily in the aerial combat, and the blast chars her lab coat.

There's cussing under her breath as she heats up her weapon. Feeling more confident now, Danny dodges again, curling his spectral tail around where the blast would have hit. Another growl and Tasma fires more rapidly into the fray.

But Danny is one step ahead at the moment, dodging every blast with ease. He continues to use the theatrics getting around every shot, smiling all the while with a cocky disposition. The ghost in turn looks furious at the halfa's antics and holsters the weapon, moving to get in close and chase him down.

"Wow, she's just as persistent as Mom on a bad day," Danny chuckles to himself, moving to avoid getting caught close range. As the words leave his lips, Danny feels his chest tighten, core constricting under his skin. Painfully cold blue mist leaks out of his mouth and nostrils, forcing him to stop.

Tasma is instantly upon him as he coughs on his own ice core, the discharged mist plugging up his senses. The more experienced combatant, now with her advantage back, begins to ruthlessly pummel the halfa, who's unable to defend himself.

Tasma quickly gives Danny a roundhouse kick, sending the ghost plummeting out of the sky and through the barrier of clouds that acted as their battleground. The kick in the head had knocked the defenseless halfa out cold, a bright and ice blue ring forming at his waist.

Valerie had finally found a way close to the clouds outside the fight, spotting Danny in a fleeting ghost form plummeting out of the sky. The huntress kicks her hover board into high gear, moving to intercept the falling ghost. She quickly catches him, recognizing the bright blue ring instantly.

"No way..." she mutters under her breath as the ring flickers in and out of existence, Danny desperately trying to cling to his spectral form in his unconscious state. Valerie, having known about ghost hybrids a few years now thanks to Danielle and Vlad, knows that the halfa in her arms will be left extremely vulnerable in physical form.

Tasma will take advantage of that, no doubt. If the ghost scum up there catches whiff of Phantom's unexpected transformation, it'll be over for him. And Valerie swore to never destroy another human, as smart-mouthed and snarky as Phantom is.

Thinking quickly, Valerie hides the flickering halfa from view by ducking behind the Nasty Burger. Hopefully Tasma didn't spot them moving to hide back here. The armor of her ghost hunting suit disperses back into her bloodstream, with the usual tingle as she lays Phantom on the ground, looking over his injuries.

The halfa is bruised, and knocked out cold, but should be fine save a rather large bump on the head once the impact sight of the ghost's killer kick swells. The flickering rings became stable, beginning to split across the jumpsuited form, just like the other two halfas Valerie knew of.

Should she watch this? See Phantom's true and human form? The bad blood between them had all but simmered over the course of their rivalry, and knowing that the ghost boy is half human would certainly dull it further alone. And, Valerie can't deny her curiosity, having a secret identity herself Phantom already knew.

It wouldn't hurt. So, Valerie watches with piqued curiosity as Phantom slowly reverts to human form. Blue jeans and a red and white hoodie with an equally red star on the front are the first things to appear. The familiarity hits, easily taking the forefront of the huntress's thoughts.

She knows Phantom's human half.

She knows it well too, as the unconscious halfa shifts to a familiar face, with raven black hair and pale skin. Danny Fenton now lies where Danny Phantom was, the same bruises and bump on his head as the ghostly counterpart to himself.

Cloying guilt fills Valerie's chest. Everything that had happened in the past five years causes her to stumble back and take in the implications of this. Fenton is Phantom. Honestly, how did she not see this before? It was so obvious now that she looked back on everything.

She finds her hands shaking as the boy on the floor groans in pain, fluttering open his sky blue eyes. He looks dazed and confused, blinking a few times to get his vision to adjust to the lighting around him.

"Ugh..." Danny sits up, clutching his chest. "Anyone got the plate number on the bus that hit me mid fight?" he groans, using the other hand to rub the bump on his forehead. The black strands of his hair move across his vision, bringing awareness to what form he's in.

His eyes trail across his jeans and hoodie, moving up to Valerie's own shocked irises. Dark green meets light blue, and Danny knows that she saw. Instant timidness invades his posture, as he involuntarily shies away from Valerie's gaze.

"Cut the bull, Fenton. I'm not gonna go shooting you for that," she says, voice a bit hollow. Danny can understand why, it's not good when the lies disappear like this. Though, Danny expected Valerie to be more furious with him. Was it the unspoken truce they shared the past couple years?

"Look, just give me a day to process this, okay? We'll talk tomorrow, because your wounded enough despite the urge to make your other eye black right now," Valerie is shaking now, Danny realizes. He can only nod dumbly as he gets to his feet.

"Tomorrow," he affirms, trying a shot at a smile, "We'll talk tomorrow." His smile isn't returned, but Valerie is shaking a little less now. The silent exchange continues as the two make their way away from the back of the Nasty Burger, heading back to their respective homes.

Danny is left in silence with his thoughts. 

Valerie knows he's Phantom, and he won't know if that's a good or bad thing until tomorrow. He may not know how that suit of hers works, since Technus imbued it on her years ago and it seems to vanish rather than return to her backpack, but he knows she'll be armed. 

He's armed involuntarily all the time too so he can't blame her. He makes a mental note about that being a joke for the impending conversation. Lightening the mood is his best weapon so if he's going to be armed, may as well be with a good joke.

Then there's the matter of Tasma. Something happened when he was fighting her. He can't even recall what it was that made his ghost sense go haywire again, right in the middle of the fight. Does Tasma attack his core? Or does his core attack himself in Tasma's presence? 

Whatever the case, it's dangerous for him. He knows he would have won the fight if his ghost core hadn't acted up and paralyzed him. There's no telling what this means for him, Tasma or Amity Park, and it's beginning to actually scare him, like the feeling he gets when Vlad talks about killing his dad scare him, minus the anger.

Fentonworks comes into view around the corner, dragging Danny out of his thoughts as he walks up to the front door. The doorknob twists easily under his grasp, the genetic lock on it letting him passed as usual as he takes in the living room, and he can feel his heart drop into his stomach.

Tasma's in his house, floating next to his dad like the most casual ghost in the world, showing off her ghost weapons. 

Alarms begin ringing in Danny's head. Why isn't dad doing anything about the ghost in the room? Dad hates ghosts! One's standing right in front of him, where's the firing weapons and the molecule tearing?!

Jack and Tasma turn to Danny, taking in his absolutely miffed expression. Tasma smiles while Jack breaks out into the most contagious grin. All the while, the sense that something is very, very wrong here invades Danny's thoughts on every level.

"Danno! You're home!" Jack exclaims, getting off the couch and sweeping his son under his arm. Danny flinches at the sudden contact but is dragged unwillingly toward Tasma, who continues to smile in the direction of the shell-shocked halfa.

"Danny, this is Tasma! She's our new ally!" Jack declares.

_Oh no._


End file.
